City Notebook

JENNIFER BELL

Published
10:38 am CST, Tuesday, March 8, 2011

During the Mar. 7 City Council meeting, Council accepted Lamar Barr's resignation from the Tourism Advisory Committee, and approved Prakash Patel, owner of Denny's restaurant and Executive Inn (Peck Hotel), to replace him. The approval came after a staff report was received regarding the Hotel Occupancy Tax payment status of Tomball's hotels, an item requested at a previous City Council meeting. The Tourism Advisory Committee serves to make recommendations on the use of Hotel Occupancy Tax funds.

Council also approved The Sister City Organization's request for in-kind services from the city for TSCO's German Heritage Festival at the March 7 meeting. The in-kind services are in addition to the $30,000 granted to TSCO for the festival, which was approved at the previous Council meeting. The services include supplies, electricity, and Tomball Public Works, Emergency Services, and Police Department staffing for the weekend of the festival, March 24-27.

At their Feb. 28 meeting, the Tourism Advisory Committee approved Main Street Crossing's application for $23,479 in Hotel Occupancy Tax funds for the purpose of an advertising agreement with the City of Tomball. The TAC brought this recommendation to Council at the March 7 meeting, and the recommendation was approved. Main Street Crossing, a local music venue, has a weekly live broadcast on TexasMix, 105.3 FM, and the money would go towards including advertisements for the City of Tomball. The city would be highlighted in the 40 or more one-minute ads throughout the show, and would also be given the opportunity to have a one-minute space before and after the live broadcast to advertise calendar events for the city.

Council approved H.G. "Hap" Harrington, former mayor of Tomball, to be reappointed to his position on the Board of Directors of Southeast Texas Housing Finance Corporation. In a letter to the City, Ron Williams, executive director of SETH, said that the mission of SETH is to provide affordable workforce housing for low to moderate-income individuals in the Southeast Texas area and that Harrington has been an integral part of accomplishing that mission. Harrington has served as a director of the organization for 20 years, and was instrumental in helping Tomball acquire a $45,000 grant from SETH for the renovation of low-income senior citizen housing in 2006.